Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special Pt 5 Ch 1 'Infinite Choices'
by Romana4Ever
Summary: Melanie ends up 14 yrs in the past. There she runs into Nyssa and Damon and the Fifth Doctor as they try to solve a crisis (Arc of Infinity) of that time period. But soon Mel has them convinced to put their own crisis on hold in order to help with the future problem. Meanwhile the Sixth Doctor has gone after Mel. Some students(Calva) overhear Mel telling Nyssa of the future war.


**DOCTOR WHO 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL **

**PART 5 CHAPTER ONE '****INFINITE CHOICES'**

All of the Doctors worked frantically to bring Mel back but to no avail.

"You knew this would happen." The Doctor accused Lord Calva.

"Yes and no. We knew Melanie would somehow find her way back in time. We just weren't sure as to how."Lord Calva said.

"Back in time?!" The Sixth Doctor shouted. He turned to Drax. "Are you insane? Drax! You hooked up the time circuits didn't you? After we all, specifically told you not to?!"

"Look Doctor mon, if we are to survive we need the most options available and our best available option to survive is to travel through time." Drax argued.

"But now my former assistant is stuck in the past. Or is she? The Sixth Doctor asked of Lord Calva.

"It is true, one of you will travel back in time to bring her back." Lord Calva answered cautiously.

"I don't suppose you would deign to share which of us it was?" The Sixth Doctor asked.

"It was you and you alone who went back fourteen years and that is all we dare share. You'll have to figure out the rest on your own." Lord Calva said matter-of-factly.

"So Melanie is the one who spilled the beans, but she knows better. Doesn't she?" The Sixth Doctor said aloud as he tried to piece together the sequence of events.

"It's complicated." Lord Calva said.

"Tell us what you know, now!" The Ninth Doctor insisted.

"We can't." Lord Calva insisted.

"No Doctor. They cannot speak anymore on this. You must go and find out for yourself." Kam Po answered for Lord Calva.

"Well, I go alone. That much we do know. I just remembered something. I bear a striking resemblance to one of the commanders of the Guards of that time." The Sixth Doctor said.

"Maxil! Yes, the old jackal. The Seventh Doctor said remembering. "Why I regenerated to look like him I'll never know." Noting the look on the Sixth Doctors face he quickly added "No offense."

"None taken. Drax! Give me that Holo-image translator. And someone bring me that guards ray gun. I may have need of it. I will disguise myself as him. Hopefully he is still the Commander where Mel has gone?" The Sixth Doctor looks inquiringly at Lord Calva.

"He is." Lord Calva said.

"Very well," The Sixth Doctor said.

"I'm going too." The Seventh Doctor insisted.

"I don't think so." The Sixth Doctor responded.

"She was my companion too." The Seventh Doctor protested.

"Yes, but you heard Lord Calva, I go alone. And hopefully I won't be returning empty-handed." The Sixth Doctor said somberly.

The sixth Doctor walked over to the transporter and stepped onto the same pad as Mel.

"Wish me luck." He said to the other Doctors.

"Good Luck." the Seventh Doctor said.

"You bring her back." The Ninth Doctor said matter-of-factly.

"I will. Now energize." The Sixth Doctor ordered.

The Tenth Doctor operated the transporter and the Sixth Doctor vanished.

.

The minute Melanie arrived she knew something was wrong.

"This looks like the citadel." She said aloud.

Suddenly she heard some people approaching. Out of instinct she hid under the table. Two Guards entered and checked the transporter.

"Someone has been transported here, but I can't make out from where. It's like someone has been transported from nowhere." The first guard said.

"We must report this to the Castellan. But first, to prevent any further transport." The Second Guard removed the key card and they left.

Mel crawled out from under the table and ran over to the transporter.

"Oh great. How am I going to get back now? I'll have to look for a friendly person to help me, but who can I trust?" With that Mel made her way to the corridor and headed off in search of some help.

A few moments later The Sixth Doctor arrived. He checked the transporter console.

"Oh, I see, someone removed the key card to prevent the intruder from leaving. Good thing they didn't think to prevent anymore intruders from teleporting here. Now where could she be?" He wondered to himself as he headed for the exit.

Mel carefully made her way down the corridors. She spotted some citadel guards and quickly hid.

.

Meanwhile at the Time Lord university Professor Adhara received word she is needed in the Cardinals office.

"I'll be right back." Professor Adhara informed the class. "You will continue with 'quantum mechanics Theorem 1200' quietly until I come back."

The second Professor Adhara left the room a mischievous student brought out a scanner.

"Watch this. I've hacked into the security system grid and cameras. This scanner type-50 can listen in on conversations all the way to the Capital." The male student boasted.

They all gather around to watched as a security camera picked up Melanie walking along a corridor.

'Calva look, an intruder!" One of the students shouted.

"Shh, let's see what she is up to. She could be a friend of that Doctor we keep hearing about." Calva said.

As Melanie moved along the corridor she suddenly spotted a familiar face.

"That's Nyssa of Trakken. I've seen her picture in the Tardis." Mel said quietly to herself.

As Mel started to approach Nyssa a man walked up to Nyssa.

"Nyssa of Trakken? I am Damon. a friend of the Doctor. we must talk but uh, not here." Damon said.

They walked away.

"This must be the past. Nyssa traveled with the Fifth Doctor." Mel thought to herself. "Okay, I'll just follow her." Mel said quietly as she headed down the corridor after Nyssa and Damon.

She soon found them talking quietly in a lounge.

"Are you sure it was the Doctors bio-extract?" Nyssa asked

"Yes, I managed to pass it to him on his way to the compound." Damon said.

"We must tell the High Council immediately." Nyssa insisted.

"But who to trust?" Damon points out. "Only members of the High Council have access to bio-data information. "

"We must find a way to speak to the Doctor." Nyssa said.

Nyssa and Damon go into Counselor Hedin's office. After awhile they emerged. Mel ran up to them.

"Hello. I understand your going to see the Doctor. Sorry but I need to see him too. Desperately." Mel pleaded.

"Look we have no time for this. This is a matter of life and death." Nyssa said adamantly.

"Look, I'm trying to stop the destruction of all of Gallifrey." Mel blurted out.

"So are we." Nyssa and Damon are both shocked by this.

"Yeah, well." Melanie hesitated. "Yours will work out but I doubt mine will." Melanie blurted.

.

The students looked at each other.

"I think we better pay close attention to this." Calva said worriedly.

.

As they walked toward the compound Melanie told them what little she knew.

"All I know is, that Rassilon, the Real Rassilon has somehow managed to unlock a time-lock and rewind time and now Gallifrey has less than 5 hours to prevent a Time War from starting. Rassilon had thought that if four of his treasures were placed in the right hand, he could be revived." Melanie said.

"Revived?" Damon asked.

"Oh from what I gather, while Rassilon slept the Black Guardian attacked him, placed some sort of band around his arm which prevents him from awakening. Five Time Lords tried and failed to recover four missing treasure of Rassilon. A Time Lord called Drax, discovered that the Rod of Rassilon had been melted down, so now they are working on a way to boost the range of the transporter inside the tomb of Rassilon so they can teleport the refugees right under the noses of the Daleks and some of the members of the High Council." Mel explained.

"Who are these refugees? Nyssa asked.

"They are Time Lord renegades." Mel said. "I overheard some of them talking and they said something about not taking some oath called 'The Vow of Non-Interference'?"

"Then they can never officially be called 'Time Lords'. Damon finished for her.

"That's what they said." Mel replied. "I found it odd they would wait until the last-minute to decide not to become Time Lords. Officially that is. And not just some of them but an entire class."

"That is most peculiar." Nyssa mused. "What prompted them to do this? Any ideas?" Nyssa asked.

"I don't know." Mel admitted. "All I know is that Lord Calva knew that Drax would be breaking into the citadel mere hours before the time-war and took him to a secret room just off the corridor which leads to the outside." Melanie said puzzled.

"Perhaps you tell someone while your here?" Damon ventures a guess. "Other than us, I mean."

"Mel wouldn't do that." Nyssa says. "You know better than to try to influence the natural flow of time don't you?"

"Of course. Besides, you're the only two I've met since coming here. And with the Doctor's help, I'll be back inside the Tomb in my time. Well, in the time I was in, at any rate." Mel said.

"Didn't anyone come to our aid?" Damon asked.

"Afraid not. The Time Lords laws of non-interference has made them pretty unpopular with a lot of planets who felt ignored by Gallifrey. So since Gallifrey didn't help them in their hour of need, they," Mel started to say.

"They felt no need to come to our aid in our hour of need." Damon finished ruefully.

The Students gasped!

"Our own Rules have led to our destruction! They lied! they said these laws would protect us but they don't! They kill us in the end!" One student ranted.

"Quiet Ashula! Let me think. We mustn't let it end this way. Let's listen some more. Penela, listen at the door. let us know when the professor is coming back." Calva ordered.

Penela went over to the door.

The rest of the students listened in as Melanie continued telling of future events.

.

"Queen Peri said that thanks to the Doctor and all the good he has done over the centuries the vote at the intergalactic High Council was pretty evenly split with 2000 abstaining but suddenly their home worlds lost contact with their delegates and when they sent officials to investigate, everyone was unconscious. Except for five people who were dead. It looked like they had been murdered. And all the others had amnesia. And it looked liked someone had used Time Lord technology to do this. So," Mel began.

"If the Time Lords went to all that trouble to stop them, then they wouldn't bother to send aid." Nyssa finished for her.

"But that doesn't make sense. The Time Lords would never murder. Damon insisted. "Not like that. Why would they if they could just erase everyone's memory like that?"

"Maybe someone else didn't want aid to be sent to Gallifrey." Nyssa guessed.

They approach the Tardis inside the compound.

.

Alonso was strolling through the Refugee area when he noticed a girl of about seven sitting quietly. She seemed almost sad. "What's wrong little girl?" Alonso asked.

"I'm bored." she said.

"Now, uh, what's your name?" Alonso asked.

"Shula." She answered.

"Well Shula, what type of games do you like to play? Hide and go seek? Tag? " Alonso asked

"No, I like to draw, it's a new skill I've learned but I can't find anything interesting to draw." she complained.

Alonso looked around and spotted a crystal globe of Gallifrey. He walked over and picked it up and held it in his stretched out hands and kneeled sideways.

"Now, here, why don't you draw this?" Alonso said.

"Okay." Shula shrugged and went to work drawing.

The Seventh Doctor was patrolling the area, making sure all the Refugees were okay. He happened to spot Alonso holding the globe and the girl drawing.

And what have we here?" The Seventh Doctor asked.

"Poor child was bored and I am helping her out by suggesting she draw something simple like this globe." Alonso explained to the Seventh Doctor.

"Oh, I see, good thinking." The Seventh Doctor said as he walked away trying hard not to smile.

Alonso noticed this and turned to look and was amazed to see that not only had she drawn the globe but HIM holding the globe. And she did an excellent job.

"Advanced alien world? They got that right." Alonso said in amazement.

.

The guard tried to block Melanie from entering the Fifth Doctor's Tardis but Damon came to her rescue.

"This is Councilors Hedins Asst. She has been sent to make sure all rules are observed." Damon lied.

The guard has no choice but to let all three pass.

Another Guard summoned the Doctor.

"So soon? What about my appeal?" The Fifth Doctor asked.

The Doctor headed down the corridor to the console room.

"Nyssa, Damon and," The Fifth Doctor stopped abruptly. "Who are you?"

Before Melanie could answer, Commander Maxil entered the console room.

"Doctor! How did you get here? Come to bring me home?" Mel asked with a smile.

Commander Maxil rounded on Mel.

"Did you just call me 'The Doctor'?" Commander Maxil demanded as he pulled out his ray gun.

"Uh, yeah, um, you're not?" Mel stammered.

Suddenly there is the sound of ray guns firing outside the Tardis.

"You! You're an intruder and obviously a friend of the Doctor! You've come to help him escape, well, there is only one penalty for helping a prisoner to escape." Commander Maxil said as he raised his ray gun.

"Stop!" The Fifth Doctor shouted as he lunged towards Commander Maxil.

But before Commander Maxil can shoot Mel a shot rang out hitting Commander Maxil. He dropped to the floor. The real Sixth Doctor entered the Tardis. He took a quick look around and stopped when he saw the Fifth Doctor.

"Snap!" They both suddenly said.

Nyssa and Damon are surprised.

"You're not," Nyssa began to say.

"I most certainly am Nyssa of Trakken. Hello Damon. Good to see you again. I just came to fetch an errant companion and then we'll just be on our way." The Sixth Doctor said.

He began hustling Mel out the Tardis.

"What about preventing the destruction of Gallifrey in the future?" Nyssa suddenly asked.

"What?!" The Fifth Doctor fairly shouted. He rushed over to the Sixth Doctor and grabbed him by the arm. "What's all this about Gallifrey being destroyed!" The Fifth Doctor demanded to know.

"It doesn't concern you. You need to stay here. Fixed point and all that. " The Sixth Doctor insisted.

"Oh no! If all of Gallifrey is in danger then I am going with you." The Fifth Doctor was adamant.

"It's in danger now." The Sixth Doctor pointed out.

"Yes, but you fix that." Mel began and then broke off suddenly as she remembered the dangers of interfering with time.

"From what I've heard, the planet was destroyed and then Rassilon somehow rewound is less than five hours to stop a Time War." Nyssa interjected.

"That settles it, I'm going." The Fifth Doctor said adamantly.

"So am I." Nyssa says.

"No!" Both Doctors said.

"I'm going and that's final. You forget! I lost my world. I won't stand idly by and watch a friends planet die as well. I'm Going!" Nyssa said matter-of-factly.

She was so adamant that neither of the Doctors bothered arguing.

"What about the Rod of Rassilon?" Damon asked

"What about it?" The Fifth Doctor asked.

"Never mind. " the Sixth Doctor said. "By the way, how do you know about the rod? Mel?"

"Sorry, but being a fellow companion, I needed to convince her that the situation was serious enough to warrant bringing me to see the Doctor. This Doctor." Mel finished as she pointed to the fifth Doctor."So I told both of them about the futile quest to recover the four treasures of Rassilon. And how the Rod had been melted down and the Time Lords who attempted to recover the other three itmes were chased away by the ones holding the items."

"Isn't the Rod intact in this time period Doctor?" Damon asked.

"Yes, it is. Excellent idea Damon. We'll bring the Rod of this time to the future." The Fifth Doctor said.

"Uh, the Rod needs to be here in the not too distant future." The Sixth Doctor pointed out.

"Then I'll bring it back when I return. It can be done. Now where is the Rod currently?" The Fifth Doctor asked Damon.

"Probably at the Rassilon Museum." Damon replied.

"Of course. Let's go." The Fifth Doctor said.

"No need to be so bossy. You're not the boss of me." The Sixth Doctor snapped "

"I wasn't being bossy, now come on." The Fifth Doctor said matter-of factly.

Nyssa, Damon and Mel couldn't help smiling.

"Here we go again." Mel said as they followed the Doctors. "How carefully guarded is this museum? I mean on Earth they have pretty heavy guard for the Crown Jewels, wouldn't they have something similar for the Treasure of Rassilon?" Mel pointed out.

"We won't worry about any treasure other than the Rod." The Sixth Doctor insisted.

"Why not just grab all the Treasures and be done with it?" Mel asked.

"Each treasure is carefully sealed up inside a special case. It would take us over an hour to break into each and every one of them. And we don't have that kind of time. We have to teleport back within the next seven minutes or we could be stuck here." The Sixth Doctor said.

"What about the transporter?" Mel asked. "The guards disabled it."

"We hot-wire it." Both Doctors answered in unison.

They made their way down the corridors of the Citadel.

"We have to be careful." The Fifth Doctor warned.

"Uh, I still look like Commander Maxil, remember?" The Sixth Doctor reminded himself.

"Besides with two Doctors it should be that much easier." Damon said as Nyssa and Mel chuckled. "Right?" He asked as they hurried on.

.

The Students inside the classroom are aghast.

"Is that two Doctors together? That's forbidden." Auroa said in shock.

"You still care about the rules? Are you insane?!" Ashula screamed.

"Silence! We mustn't lose our heads. And why not multiple Doctors? From the stories I've heard, The Doctor has saved Gallifrey several times but each time the High council refuses to publicly acknowledge this. I say the more Doctors the better. Let's see if we can help the Doctors obtain the Rod of Rassilon." Calva said.

.

The Doctors, Nyssa, Mel and Damon approach the museum. There are two guards standing on either side of the door.

"Great." Mel whispers. "Might as well head back empty-handed."

.

The students saw the Doctors dilemma.

"Why doesn't he just shoot them?" Ashula asked.

"He can't just shoot every guard they find. And supposing he misses? That would alert the entire Capital to their presence." Calva pointed out.

"What shall we do?" Ashula asked. "Do something Calva. You're suppose to be our leader."

"Just a minute." Calva said as he typed furiously away on his hand-held computer.

.

Suddenly a voice came over the speaker.

"All Museum guards are to report to the Castellan's Office immediately! All Museum Guards are to report to the Castellan's Office immediately!"

The Two guards looked at each other and then ran off towards the Castellan's Office.

"Well that was a lucky break." Mel said.

"Yes, too lucky if you ask me." Sixth Doctor said.

"Well never mind that, let's get going." Mel urged.

They sneaked into the museum and made their way to the case. As the Fifth Doctor started trying to pick the lock, the Museum Guards were met by the Castellan in the corridor.

"What is the meaning of this? Who authorized that message? How dare you leave your post? You could be court-marshalled for this. Who is guarding the treasures of Rassilon? " The Castellan demanded to know as he rushed down the corridor towards the museum.

The Fifth Doctor managed to open the case just as the Castellan and two guards enter.

"Commander Maxil what is this outrage?" The Castellan asked the Sixth Doctor.

"Oh so sorry, but " The Sixth Doctor suddenly shot one of the guards while the Fifth Doctor grappled with the other.

The Castellan managed to radio for more guards before Nyssa hit him over the head with a vase.

In the confusion the Doctors, Nyssa, Mel and Damon managed to escape from the Museum and head straight for the President's office just as more guards entered the Museum.

The Fifth Doctor quickly used the presidential codes to open the door and they all rushed in.

The Sixth Doctor began pulling apart wires and rewired the Transporter to link up to the one in the future while the Fifth Doctor began entering some data.

"Let's go. We've only got 10 seconds before they will attempt to bring us back." The Sixth Doctor said.

Several Guards entered the presidential office just as the transporter engaged. As soon as they disappeared the transporter pad the Fifth doctor was standing on blew a fuse.

They teleported into the future inside Rassilon's tomb. The other Doctors rushed forward to greet them when they noticed something not quite right about the Fifth Doctor.

The Sixth Doctor, Nyssa, Mel and Damon are puzzled. Why are they staring at the Fifth Doctor? But as they turned to look they let out a small gasp.

"Doctor!" Nyssa gasped. "You're old."

"Well I maybe a few hundred years old but that's no cause to..." He stopped suddenly when he noticed his younger selves also staring at him agape.

The Fifth Doctor looked around and found a reflective surface to study his face. To his surprise he realized that he has aged about 30 years.

"Good heavens. What could have happened?" The Fifth Doctor wondered out-loud.

"There must be something wrong with the console pad which caused you to rapidly age." The Doctor said.

"Well I got Melanie back. That's something at least. But we couldn't get the Rod of Rassilon." the Sixth Doctor said.

"Not so!" The Fifth Doctor shouted as he turned around.

He suddenly produced the Rod of Rassilon out of his coat-sleeve.

"I would dare say, we are back in business." The Fifth Doctor said smiling.

"Well done Doctor." Nyssa said."

Tegan emerged from the Fourth Doctors Tardis.

"Doctor are you sure that the Key of Rassilon is in your Tardis? We've looked everywhere for it and," She noticed Nyssa. "Nyssa! How did you get here? And Doctor?!" she gasped as she noticed the Fifth Doctor.

"Slight problem with the Transporter, nothing that can't be fixed." The Fifth Doctor tried to reassure her.

Adric came forward.

"Doctor, it's good to see," he stopped suddenly remembering he was supposed to be dead.

Nyssa and the Fifth Doctor gasped.

"Adric, your suppose to be," Nyssa stammered.

"Dead. Yeah, well I'm here for now." Adric said.

"You're here for good." Tegan snapped.

"There will be no more talk like that. You're not going back." The Tenth Doctor said firmly.

"Agreed. But how?" the Fifth Doctor asked

"One of the Tharils saved me at the last-minute. One called Biroc." Adric explained.

"Biroc? Well small world, so what's the next step?" The Fifth Doctor asked the other Doctors.

"The Ninth and the First Doctors will choose your companions and you will recover the Cornet of Rassilon." Kam Po said suddenly.

"So we really are back in business then thanks to Damon's suggestion of bringing the Rod from the past?" Mel asks.

The Sixth and Fifth Doctors start to answer but are interrupted by Kam Po.

Actually the quest for these treasures was never over. It was simply put on hold for a short while."

"But no one was able to acquire the treasures." Romana said.

"Actually my dear Romana, none of us were to recover the treasures. Remember our task was to find the treasures." Kam Po pointed out to her.

"So you five Time Lords locate them and then we Doctors go and retrieve them? The Seventh Doctor asked Kam Po.

"You are as perceptive as ever Doctor." Kam Po said. "Now Doctors one and nine, chose your companions."

The Ninth Doctor ran over to the Fourth Doctor's Tardis.

"Rose!" The Ninth Doctor yelled into the Tardis. "Come on. We've got a mission. Unless you'd rather stay behind."

The First Doctor turned to Lon.

"Will you accompany me?" The First Doctor asked.

"I am not to get involved with these events. But rather to observe and report back to the Elders."Lon said matter-of-factly.

"Very well." the first Doctor walked over to where Katarina was sitting quietly.

"Would you like to accompany me my dear?" The First Doctor asked her.

"Of course Doctor." Katarina said.

Suddenly Lon eyes lit up as she stood up. He can't help but to stare at Katarina's beauty.

"You, you're beautiful. I'm Lon. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand.

Katarina shyly took it.

"My Lord." Katarina said quietly.

"Just call me Lon and uh, Doctor. I've changed my mind. I'll accompany you on this quest to recover the Cornet." Lon told the First Doctor.

"Yes, I thought you might." The First Doctors said chuckling.

The Ninth Doctor turned to The Rani.

"So what planet was the Cornet located?" The Ninth Doctor demanded to know from The Rani.

"It's on a Planet called Carina." The Rani answered reluctantly.

"Never heard of it but still. No time like the present I always say." The First Doctor said.

Rose exited the Tardis.

"Wait for me." Rose said.

The Ninth and First Doctors along with their chosen companions Rose, Katarina and Lon stepped onto the transporter pads.

"Don't step on that back middle one." The Ninth Doctor warned Rose. "It's not safe."

The Doctor and the Second Doctor operated the controls and the group disappeared.

.

"And what progress have you made in finding a safe passage into the 'Death Zone' and from there into the 'Tomb of Rassilon'?" The Clone of Rassilon asked the Captain of the Guards and the Castellan.

"None my Lord. It is impregnable. Even though we have tried everything. they have somehow blocked us from teleporting there." The Captain of the Guards admitted quietly.

"It would seem impossible my Lord." The Catellan said reluctantly.

"I seem to recall a secret tunnel that lead to the death zone." Shashir mused out-loud.

"Go and look up the ancient records. At once!" The Clone Rassilon commanded The Castellan.

The Castellan bowed and hurried away.


End file.
